Question: If the sales tax in your city is $13.7\%$, how much tax would you pay for an item that costs $\$138$ before tax? Round to the nearest cent.
In order to find the amount of sales tax you would pay, multiply the sales tax by the original price of the item. ${13.7\%} \times {\$138} =$ Percent means "out of one hundred," so $13.7\%$ is equivalent to $13.7 \div 100$ $13.7 \div 100 = 0.137$ Multiply the sales tax you just converted into a decimal by the original price to find the amount of sales tax that must be paid. Round to the nearest cent. $0.137$ $\times$ $$138$ = $$18.91$ You would pay $$18.91$ in sales tax.